Christ and Spirituality in St. Thomas Aquinas Thomistic Ressourcement Series Volume 2 Series Editors Matthew Levering, University of Dayton Thomas Joseph White, O.P., Dominican House of Studies Editorial Board Serge-Thomas Bonino, O.P., Institut Catholique de Toulouse Lawrence Dewan, O.P., Dominican College of Ottawa Gilles Emery, O.P., University of Fribourg Reinhard Hütter, Duke University Bruce Marshall, Southern Methodist University Emanuel Perrier, O.P., Dominican Studium, Toulouse Richard Schenk, O.P., Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology Kevin White, The Catholic University of America Christ and Spirituality in St. Thomas Aquinas Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P. Translated by Bernhard Blankenhorn, O.P. The Catholic University of America Press Washington, D.C. Copyright © 2011 The Catholic University of America Press All rights reserved The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standards for Information Science—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984. ∞ Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Torrell, Jean-Pierre. [Selections. English. 2011] Christ and spirituality in St. Thomas Aquinas / Jean-Pierre Torrell ; translation by Bernhard Blankenhorn, O.P. p. cm. — (Thomistic ressourcement series ; v. 2) Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index. ISBN 978-0-8132-1878-6 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Thomas, Aquinas, Saint, 1225?–1274. 2. Spirituality—Catholic Church. 3. Theology, Doctrinal—History—Middle Ages, 600–1500. 4. Philosophy, Medieval. 5. Catholic Church—Doctrines— History. I. Title. BX4700.T6T5913 2011 230'.2092—dc23 2011022488 Contents French Sources of Book Chapters vii Abbreviations ix Preface xi 1. St. Thomas Aquinas: Theologian and Mystic 1 2. Theology and Sanctity 21 3. Charity as Friendship in St. Thomas Aquinas 45 4. The Interpreter of Desire: Prayer According to St. Thomas Aquinas 65 5. Christ in the “Spirituality” of St. Thomas 74 6. Imitating God as His Beloved Children: Conformity to God and to Christ in the Works of St. Thomas Aquinas 110 7. The Priesthood of Christ in the Summa Theologiae 126 8. The Sower Went Out to Sow: The Image of Christ the Preacher in Friar Thomas Aquinas 159 9. St. Thomas, Spiritual Master 174 Bibliography 195 Index of Subjects 207 Index of Names 211 French Sources of Book Chapters 1. “St. Thomas: Theologian and Mystic,” Nova et Vetera 4 (2006): 1–16; originally “Théologien et mystique: Le cas de Thomas d’Aquin,” trans. Therese Scarpelli, Revue des Sciences Religieuses 77 (2003): 350–65. 2. “Théologie et sainteté,” trans. Robert Williams, Revue Thomiste 71 (1971): 205– 21. 3. “La charité comme amitié chez saint Thomas d’Aquin,” trans. Matthew Ra- mage, La Vie Spirituelle 155 (2001): 265–83. 4. “L’interprète du désir: La prière chez saint Thomas d’Aquin,” trans. Matthew Ramage, La Vie Spirituelle 158 (2004): 213–23. 5. “Le Christ dans la ‘spiritualité’ de saint Thomas,” in Christ among the Medieval Dominicans, edited by Kent Emery Jr. and Joseph P. Wawrykow, trans. Paul Gondreau (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1999), 197–219. 6. “‘Imiter Dieu comme des enfants bien-aimés’: La conformité à Dieu et au Christ dans l’oeuvre de saint Thomas,” in Novitas et veritas vitae, edited by C.-J. Pinto de Oliveira, trans. Robert Williams (Fribourg: Editions Universitaires, 1991), 53–65. 7. “Le sacerdoce du Christ dans la Somme de théologie,” trans. Robert Williams, Revue Thomiste 99 (1999): 75–100. 8. “Le semeur est sorti pour semer: L’image du Christ prêcheur chez frère Tho- mas d’Aquin,” trans. Robert Williams, La Vie Spirituelle 147 (1993): 657–70. 9. “Saint Thomas maître de vie spirituelle,” trans. Matthew Ramage, Revue des Sciences Religieuses 71 (1997): 442–57. vii Abbreviations Compendium theol. Compendium theologiae De divinis nominibus In librum beati Dionysii de divinis nominibus expositio De potentia Quaestiones disputatae de potentia De veritate Quaestiones disputatae de veritate In I Corinthios Super I Epistolam B. Pauli ad Corinthios lectura (in Super Epistolas S. Pauli lectura, vol. 1) In 1 Timotheum Super I Epistolam B. Pauli ad Timotheum lectura (in Super Epistolas S. Pauli lectura, vol. 2) In Boet. De Trin. Super Boetium de Trinitate In Ephesios Super Epistolam B. Pauli ad Ephesios lectura (in Super Epistolas S. Pauli lectura, vol. 2) In Galatas Super Epistolam B. Pauli ad Galatas lectura (in Super Epistolas S. Pauli lectura, vol. 1) In Hebraeos Super Epistolam B. Pauli ad Hebraeos lectura (in Super Epistolas S. Pauli lectura, vol. 2) In Ioannem Super Evangelium S. Ioannis lectura In Isaiam Expositio super Isaiam ad litteram In Mattheum Super Evangelium S. Matthaei lectura In Post. Anal. Expositio Libri Posteriorum Analyticorum In Psalmos In psalmos Davidis expositio ix x Abbreviations In Romanos Super Epistolam B. Pauli ad Romanos lectura (in Super Epistolas S. Pauli lectura, vol. 1) PG Patrologia Graeca PL Patrologia Latina SCG Summa contra Gentiles Sent. I Scriptum super libros Sententiis I Sent. II Scriptum super libros Sententiis II Sent. III Scriptum super libros Sententiis III Sent. IV Scriptum super libros Sententiis IV ST Summa Theologiae a. article ad answer to objection ch. chapter obj. objection q. question qla. quaestiuncula sc. sed contra resp. response trac. tractatus Preface The nine chapters in this book are a collection of essays previously published under various titles that precede, prepare, accompany, or follow the various works that I have published on Saint Thom- as Aquinas. No preconceived master plan governed the writing of these short essays. On the contrary, they were composed over a period spanning more than thirty years and under no pretext of conforming to a predetermined schema. Rather, they constitute a simple response to various inquiries. If it is nevertheless possible to unite them in a single collection, this is because they all proceed from the same concern, which has never ceased guiding me from the very first steps I took in the intellectual life. I therefore ask the reader’s indulgence as I express myself in the first person more than is typically permitted. My only excuse for this is that it reflects the discovery that everyone can make for him- or herself through a frequent reading of Thomas Aquinas: one reads him thinking he is only an author, and discovers the person. It is said that in his childhood, Thomas ceaselessly harassed those around him with a single question: “What is God?” Even if this anecdote is unhistorical, in retrospect it still takes on a particu- lar likelihood for whoever is the least bit familiar with the life and works of the saint. While as a disciple of Thomas Aquinas I certainly have no pretension of comparing myself to the master, nevertheless it is true that from my first steps in theology an analogous question xi xii Preface sprang up in me as well. The prospect that opened before me as a young Dominican, of a life entirely consecrated to study, was fasci- nating, to be sure, but it did not come without a certain anxiety. The premonition that it would require a total commitment to a work of great self-sacrifice and renunciation was nothing in comparison to the fear of having to sacrifice something essential. What would all of this serve if the life of the mind were to dominate that of the heart, if the intellect were to suffocate charity? What would the study of theology serve if by studying the theologian the scholar were to lose his own soul? I will come back to this question in chapter 9, the final chapter of this volume, because it is only after fifty years that I now feel ca- pable of offering the beginning of a sufficiently elaborated personal response. The ingredients of an answer came to me by studying the works of Thomas, by reflecting on the solutions he offers to the great questions of faith and the Christian life, by meditating on the life of this elder brother in the Dominican order, and by companionship with prominent religious theologians through their scholarly pub- lications. If Thomas was able to be a saint and to practice theology, and if the authors that I admired were in their own turn able to be both great theologians and exemplary religious, then it was feasible for me to do so as well. It remained for me to discover just how this was possible. In my mind it was not a matter of finding some way to make two parallel occupations coexist—that of the theologian ded- icated to research and teaching and that of the religious vowed to communal life and prayer. Thomas’s response leaves no doubt: his holiness did not flower alongside his endeavor as a theologian, but rather through the practice of theology and the asceticism proper to magnanimous souls who dare to examine the mystery of God. The problem posed to lay Christians who desire to consecrate themselves to the study and teaching of theology is certainly no less pointed; neither can it be solved in any other way. Today, Chris- tians are taught that the place of their response to God’s call lies in their family life and in their profession. Their prayer and Eucharis- Preface xiii tic praise cannot simply be abstracted from the rest of life, because that life includes the contents of the spiritual sacrifices they offer God through Jesus Christ. If they happen to be theologians, they cannot consider the exercise of their profession as a livelihood like any other. In contrast to other fields that have no special relation- ship with the Christian life—and that are at times even incompat- ible with it—the theologian’s profession is an effective application of the life of faith. Far from distancing us from our vocation as chil- dren of God, our specialization in the things of God leads us back to the heart of the Christian life.